In certain supply chain and logistic environments, for example, warehouses, factories, and/or ports, industrial vehicles such as forklifts may include minimal computing electronics. To improve operator usability and/or to perform a variety of essential tasks that allows the vehicle to function properly, a computer communicatively coupled to one or more peripherals (for example, scanners, radios and other components) may be mounted on or embedded in the vehicle. The vehicle-mounted computer may control operations of one or more of the peripherals to which it is communicatively coupled. For example, the vehicle-mounted computer may be configured to turn on and off one or more peripherals to which it is communicatively coupled.
The vehicle-mounted computer and the communicatively coupled peripherals may receive power from the vehicle such that when the vehicle is switched on or off, an ignition signal is sent from the vehicle to the vehicle-mounted computer. However, it is important that the vehicle-mounted computer and/or the peripherals not drain the vehicle battery when the vehicle ignition is switched off. Therefore, the ignition signal indicating that the vehicle is switched off is used to alert the vehicle-mounted computer that the vehicle-mounted computer and/or the peripherals need to either be powered off or put in a low power state in order not to drain the vehicle battery before the vehicle can be restarted. Similarly, when the vehicle is switched on, the ignition signal may be used to alert the vehicle-mounted computer so that the vehicle-mounted computer and/or the peripherals can be switched on to a full power state. However, the vehicle-mounted computer and/or the peripherals put in a low power state when the vehicle is switched off may require time to resume when the vehicle is switched on. For some peripherals, the startup process may include a system registration with the system on which the peripheral operates. For example, a radio being turned on may have to log in with the cellular and/or wireless network on which the radio operates. Processors being executed on the vehicle-mounted computer and/or the peripherals may therefore require time to reawaken, turn on displays, reload drivers and/or restart any programs and sessions that were running before the vehicle-mounted computer and/or the peripherals were put in the low power state or powered off. Therefore, there is a tradeoff between power savings and the time required to return the vehicle-mounted computer and/or the peripherals to a full power state.
Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and method for providing adaptive power state control based on ignition input.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.